What is Link Equity (Link Juice)?
Link equity is the ranking value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks. It's a core component of how Google determines page authority and search rankings.
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What is Link Equity?
Link equity (sometimes called “link juice”) is the SEO value that one page passes to another through a hyperlink, influencing the receiving page’s ability to rank in search results.
Not all links pass the same value. A link from The New York Times carries more equity than a link from a brand-new blog. The concept traces back to Google’s original PageRank algorithm, which treated links as votes — with some votes counting more than others.
Google’s own documentation confirms that links remain one of the most important ranking signals. Backlinko’s analysis of 11.8 million search results found that the #1 result on Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10. That gap is largely explained by link equity.
Why Does Link Equity Matter?
Link equity is how authority flows through the web — and through your own site.
- Page rankings — Pages receiving more high-quality link equity tend to rank higher for their target keywords
- New content indexing — Internal links from high-equity pages help new content get discovered and indexed faster
- Site-wide authority — Link equity flows through your internal linking structure, lifting the performance of connected pages
- Competitive moat — Accumulated link equity from years of link building creates a ranking advantage competitors can’t quickly replicate
Understanding link equity flow helps you make better decisions about site structure, internal linking, and which pages to prioritize for external link building.
How Link Equity Works
What Determines Equity Value
Several factors affect how much equity a link passes: the linking page’s own authority and equity, the number of outbound links on that page (equity is split among them), the link’s placement (editorial links in content pass more than footer links), and whether the link is dofollow or nofollow.
Internal Link Equity Flow
Link equity doesn’t just come from external sites. Your own internal links distribute equity across your site. A homepage typically has the most equity because it receives the most external links. Smart internal linking passes that equity to your most important pages. Poor site architecture traps equity in low-value pages.
Equity Loss and Leakage
Link equity can be lost through redirects (each 301 redirect loses a small percentage), broken links pointing to 404 pages (100% loss), and nofollow attributes (equity is not passed). Chains of redirects compound the loss. Keeping a clean link structure preserves maximum equity flow.
Link Equity Examples
Example 1: A blog post earning natural links A dental practice publishes a study on “average cost of dental implants by state” through theStacc. The post earns 15 backlinks from health blogs and local news sites. That link equity flows to the blog post, but also passes internally to the practice’s “dental implants” service page through strategic internal linking.
Example 2: A site migration losing equity An ecommerce store migrates to a new domain without setting up 301 redirects. All existing backlinks now point to pages that return 404 errors. The site loses 100% of its accumulated link equity overnight. Rankings drop across every keyword within 2 weeks.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
SEO mistakes compound just like SEO wins do — except in the wrong direction.
Targeting keywords without checking intent. Ranking for a keyword means nothing if the search intent doesn’t match your page. A commercial keyword needs a product page, not a blog post. An informational query needs a guide, not a sales pitch. Mismatched intent = high bounce rate = wasted rankings.
Neglecting technical SEO. Publishing great content on a site that takes 6 seconds to load on mobile. Fixing your Core Web Vitals and crawl errors is less exciting than writing articles, but it’s the foundation everything else sits on.
Building links before building content worth linking to. Outreach for backlinks works 10x better when you have genuinely valuable content to point people toward. Create the asset first, then promote it.
Key Metrics to Track
| Metric | What It Measures | Where to Find It |
|---|---|---|
| Organic traffic | Visitors from unpaid search | Google Analytics |
| Keyword rankings | Position for target terms | Ahrefs, Semrush, or GSC |
| Click-through rate | % who click your result | Google Search Console |
| Domain Authority / Domain Rating | Overall site authority | Moz (DA) or Ahrefs (DR) |
| Core Web Vitals | Page experience scores | PageSpeed Insights or GSC |
| Referring domains | Unique sites linking to you | Ahrefs or Semrush |
Implementation Checklist
| Task | Priority | Difficulty | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit current setup | High | Easy | Foundation |
| Fix technical issues | High | Medium | Immediate |
| Optimize existing content | High | Medium | 2-4 weeks |
| Build new content | Medium | Medium | 2-6 months |
| Earn backlinks | Medium | Hard | 3-12 months |
| Monitor and refine | Ongoing | Easy | Compounding |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do nofollow links pass link equity?
Technically no — the nofollow attribute tells search engines not to pass equity. But Google treats nofollow as a “hint” rather than a strict directive since 2019. Some equity may still flow through nofollow links. Regardless, dofollow links are significantly more valuable for SEO.
How do I increase link equity to my important pages?
Build external backlinks to your highest-priority pages. Internally, link from your most authoritative pages (homepage, top-trafficked posts) to the pages you want to rank. Reduce unnecessary outbound links on key pages so equity isn’t diluted across too many destinations.
Does link equity expire?
Link equity from a specific backlink can diminish over time if the linking page loses its own authority or gets removed. But the link equity concept itself doesn’t expire. Consistently building quality links maintains and grows your site’s overall authority.
Want to build the content that earns natural backlinks? theStacc publishes 30 SEO-optimized articles to your site every month — automatically. Start for $1 →
Sources
- Google Search Central: How Search Works
- Backlinko: Search Engine Ranking Factors
- Moz: Link Equity
- Ahrefs: Link Juice Explained
Related Terms
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to a page on your site. Google treats them as votes of confidence — the more high-quality backlinks a page earns, the more likely it is to rank higher in search results.
Domain AuthorityDomain Authority (DA) is a Moz metric predicting how likely a domain is to rank in search results. Learn how DA is calculated, what's a good score, and how to improve it.
Internal LinkAn internal link connects one page of your website to another page on the same domain. Learn why internal linking matters for SEO and how to build an effective strategy.
Link BuildingLink building is the practice of getting other websites to link back to your site. These backlinks act as votes of confidence that tell Google your content is trustworthy and worth ranking higher in search results.
Nofollow LinkA nofollow link includes an HTML attribute (rel='nofollow') that signals search engines not to pass link equity to the linked page. It's used for paid links, user-generated content, and untrusted sources.
